The Cypress Glen Nursing & Reahbilitation Center in Port Arthur, wehich is under renovationn, is being offered to Jefferson County as a potential COVID-19 patient treatment center by now - owner Dr. Stan Packard. Photo taken Friday, April 3, 2020 Kim Brent/The Enterprise less

The Cypress Glen Nursing & Reahbilitation Center in Port Arthur, wehich is under renovationn, is being offered to Jefferson County as a potential COVID-19 patient treatment center by now - owner Dr. Stan ... more

Photo: Kim Brent / The Enterprise

Photo: Kim Brent / The Enterprise

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The Cypress Glen Nursing & Reahbilitation Center in Port Arthur, wehich is under renovationn, is being offered to Jefferson County as a potential COVID-19 patient treatment center by now - owner Dr. Stan Packard. Photo taken Friday, April 3, 2020 Kim Brent/The Enterprise less

The Cypress Glen Nursing & Reahbilitation Center in Port Arthur, wehich is under renovationn, is being offered to Jefferson County as a potential COVID-19 patient treatment center by now - owner Dr. Stan ... more

More than a month into this crisis, Southeast Texas is opening testing to more people who want it. But the region remains hampered by uncertain numbers about how many people are being infected by this disease and even dying from it. Until there is vastly more testing, public officials and medical authorities won’t have a clear understanding of where we are in this battle. And without that basic information, they will be unable to plot the path toward reopening that so many people are focused on now.

One comparison illustrates this problem. As of last week, more than 500 residents of mostly rural Hardin County had been tested for the virus as compared to only 144 in the larger city of Port Arthur. As a result, only 29 Port Arthur residents had been officially listed as testing positive for the disease when the actual numbers are almost certainly much higher.

Jefferson County Health Authority Dr. Cecil Walkes said less than 1% of the population has been tested for the virus despite projections that as many as 40% of the population could become infected.

Area officials had a plan to open a new testing site in Port Arthur last Friday but it inexplicably collapsed, with more than 35 people showing up for tests but finding no medical personnel to administer them. The need for that new testing site remains as strong as ever, and local officials should try to get it set up as soon as possible. Having it open every day of the week would clearly be preferable, but given the chronic shortages of testing kits and medical personnel that been common throughout this crisis almost everywhere, a lesser schedule would be better than nothing.

Southeast Texas has officially recorded 13 deaths from coronavirus so far and more than 300 positive case, with fewer than 40 people hospitalized. But experts believe that the number of infections and deaths is much larger, with some infected people exhibiting no outward symptoms and some infected people dying before they can be tested.

Gov. Greg Abbott must do all he can to get more testing kits and protective equipment delivered to places like Southeast Texas that need them, especially since he is moving Texas toward “reopening” faster than most other states. He announced that the Texas National Guard will be deploying 25 45-member teams to various parts of the state to increase testing. Southeast Texas must see at least one of these teams.

Employers and employees in the region want to get back to work as much as he does. But that can only happen when it’s clear that the virus has diminished considerably and our ability to test has been dramatically increased. Without that basic data, we run the risk of a premature reopening that leads to a second surge in infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

That would be even worse than our current ordeal. The only way to avoid that is with better data, and the only way to get that is with more testing. This must be the priority of every public official and medical leader in Southeast Texas.